A member of
Muammar Qadhafi's tribe, the
Qadhadhfah, published two letters on a Libyan opposition website this month defending his tribe against all sorts of accusations. There is a strong perception both inside Libya and within the opposition abroad that the
Qadhadhfah are, to all intents and purposes, in control of Libya.
The
Qadhadhfah are an Arabised
Berber tribe that traces its roots back to a well-known
wali (saint),
Sidi Qadhafaddam, who is buried in Al-Gharyan, south of Tripoli. They consider themselves to be
murabitoun (saintly) and
Ashraf (i.e., they claim descent from the lineage of the Prophet).
The tribe moved away from the Al-Gharyan area over two centuries ago. Some settled in the lush pastures of the Cyrenaican plateau but were driven out to the barren deserts around Sirte by an alliance of tribes from the
Sa'adi confederation, led by the
Bara'sa (the tribe that Qadhafi's wife,
Farkash al-Haddad al-Bara'sa, comes from) and the
Maghara.
The
Qadhadhfah are a small and rather insignificant tribe by Libyan standards, hence the importance for Qadhafi of making strong alliances with other key tribes such as through marriage and by drawing his security personnel from tribes such as the
Warfalla.
It is true that the
Leader has consolidated the role of the
Qadhadhfah in the ruling elite and appointed family members to key positions in his regime. However, this does not mean that he has supported all members of the
Qadhadhfah tribe, or that they are all in positions of power.
As the author of the letter asserts,
'We Qadhadhfah have a number of officers but they are old. They form just 2 per cent [of the regime].' Simply being part of the Qadhadhfah does not automatically entitle one to special privileges, and many of the
Qadhadhfah young are unemployed and suffering just like everyone else.
The author of the letter asserted that the whole of the
Qadhadhfah tribe cannot be held responsible for what is happening in the country and that the importance of the
Qadhadhfah is diminishing because the
Leader's children, who are now appointing officials themselves, have stronger relations with the
Bara'sa, the tribe of their mother.
In addition, he claimed that
Mohamed Qadhafi, the
Leader's eldest son but who has a different mother from his half-brothers and is from Tripoli, insists on appointing his assistants and bodyguards exclusively from Tripoli rather than from Sirte, which is where Qadhafi's branch of the
Qadhadhfah are from.
The author recounted how, despite having a masters degree in communications from the UK, he was rejected by Mohamed when he applied for a position in the
Libyan Post and Telecommunications Company because '
I am Qadhadhfah.'For more news and expert analysis about Libya please see
Libya Focus and
Libya Politics & Security.
